Windowsill
by The Jackalope
Summary: I found you, Roxas. [AkuRoku]


**Windowsill**  
_The Jackalope  
_

Gazing out his bedroom window, a sigh escaped Sora's lips. Another Christmas without snow. He leant on the windowsill, watching as his parents headed down the road to visit neighbors and spread the holiday cheer. Riku would be stopping by later to hang out with him. "To play videogames" he would say- although, the "joysticks" they were using weren't connected to any gaming consoles. A silly grin found its way onto Sora's face at the mere thought. 

_Stop it._ Sora scowled at the windowpane- it was Roxas.

"Better get used to it, because he's coming over in an hour," the amused little smile returned to Sora's face, and his counterpart did all he could to wipe it off.

_I don't WANT to get used to it. It makes me lonely._

"I know," he sighed, breathing against the windowpane and writing his name, before adding an X and anagramming it, "But Roxas, I have a life to lead too, you know,"

_I know,_ the voice in his head sounded sad, and Sora winced, "I'm sorry."

_It's okay. I just miss him, that's all._

Him- Sora knew that Roxas was referring to Axel. When Sora slept, and Roxas had free reign over the boy's memories, all he did was watch and rewatch those final moments Sora had with Axel. Sora knew that when he was awake, and when Roxas was quiet, the boy was reflecting on his own memories- somehow he never could quite see them himself. Sometimes he wished he could, so he could know his other half- himself, he supposed, better. Other times, just from hearing the saddened tone of Roxas's voice, he was glad that he had a bit of distance between them. Otherwise, the guilt of being able to be happy with Riku might just become too much.

He sighed, wiping the windowpane clear of their names. His gaze traveled down the street. No snow. It was cold enough, but yet there was no snow. So the streets were bare, all the children inside, playing with their new toys that they had received today- Christmas Day.

"Hey, Roxas, do you want anything for Christmas?" he asked, however he received no reply for several moments, before a sudden, _Look._

Sora knew what Roxas was referring to without having to ask him. His eyes fell upon a lone figure in the street. He recognized him as a guy he had been seeing around a lot lately- just over the past month or so- the reason why he had stood out so much was not only his shock of bright red hair, but the strong resemblance he had to someone he knew.

He felt his heart swell, but he had no reason to feel that way, so he knew it was Roxas's emotions being expressed in him.

"What is it?"

_He's coming this way. To the house._

Pressing his hands against the windowsill, Sora peered out the window- Roxas was right- the man was standing outside their gate, checking his hand- an address, probably- and he was pushing open the gate--

_Sora, go downstairs- open the door. **Please.**_

Sora wasn't one to argue with Roxas, especially when the boy sounded as desperate as he did right then. Hopping down from his window, he darted down the hall, skipping a few steps on his way down the stairs, and wrenched open the door just as the man had lifted his fist to knock.

Startled, the man froze in mid-motion of the knock, his blue eyes wide in shock as he stared down at the brunette boy in the doorway.

-

**It's him.**

"Well if that wasn't obvious." Lae grumbled in response to Axel's breathy statement, withdrawing his hand and scratching nervously at the base of his neck. It had been odd, to suddenly be struck with Axel's presence barely a year ago. It had happened suddenly, in the middle of the night. Lae had awoken to Axel's voice in his head, screaming someone's name. The first few weeks had been Hell, glancing in mirrors to see Axel instead of himself, and hearing the redhead lament over his past. Lae would often be plagued with dreams of a blonde boy and some sort of giant key, along with people in dark cloaks, and sometimes his memories would become jumbled with Axel's own.

After a while, Axel had started to ask Lae for his help in finding Roxas, who'd dissagreed initially. It had taken months of nagging and on the former nobody's behalf to get Lae to find Roxas, or Sora, as it was. They'd traveled all the way to Destiny Islands from another world, thanks to Axel's knowledge on obtaining Gummi Ships, and now, the day that his other half had been yearning for was finally here.

**Say something to him. Let him know it's me! Ask him to get it memorized!** Axel hissed inside of his mind, and Lae hit himself in the head. "You keep quiet! I'll do this how I want to do this you little pyromaniac!" He snarled, flushing upon realizing that the brunette before him was still gaping with wide eyes. "Uh..."

"Uh-" Sora stared at the man on his doorstep, slightly worried for his safety at the moment.

Turning away to the side, he hissed at Roxas quietly under his breath, "You idiot- now look what you've done! Some schizophrenic psycho is standing on my doorstep now--"

_Shut up! Say something to him. Sora, **please**--_

Turning back, Sora forced a cheerful smile at the man, "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas." Lae responded automatically, running his hands through his hair.

**Tell him, you heterosexual son of a bitch.**

"Ooh, that was below the belt." Lae muttered under his breath, glancing away from Sora for a moment before looking back at him. "I... I'm a friend... of a friend. Someone you knew not that long ago... he looked kind of like me...Well, he kind of... is me... uh." Lae stopped in mid sentence, realizing how foolish he sounded, and ran his hands through his hair again.

"I'm afraid I don't--" _SORA!!_ the brunette stopped in mid-sentence.

_Don't you recognize him?! LOOK at him already!_ Sora's heart was thundering in his chest and he hated to use clichés but he swore he had butterflies in his stomach. He was only meant to feel this way when Riku was here, and the silver-haired boy wasn't anywhere to be seen so...

Slowly, Sora peered up once again, this time really studying the man in front of him. He was a handsome man, with a strong, pointed chin and an aristocratic nose. His eyes were the same exotic shape as Axel's, though they shone a crystalline blue color instead of Axel's gorgeous, vivid green. His hair was shorter than Axel's, though still that blindingly bright red, it was cropped at the nape, and stuck every-which-way. The one thing Sora should have noticed from the beginning was the twin tear drop tattoos that rested beneath each of the man's eyes. He was as tall and skinny as ever, with a black winter jacket keeping him warm and a pair of black jeans.

Sora mumbled, "He looks a little bit like..."

_A **little** bit?! Sora, stop being dense—_

Sora suddenly realized he had been staring at the man in front of him for about a minute or two and he hadn't even said a single word. Flushing, he stuck out his hand and spoke up, "Uh, I'm Sora."

**Do it. DO it. DO IT.** Lae huffed in aggravation at Axel's prodding demand to repeat the pyro's past catch phrase, almost feeling a set of invisible hands wanting to strangle him in irritation. He smiled at Sora leaning forward fractionally. "The name is Lae..." He raised an index finger and tapped it to his temple. "Got it memorized?"

**YES.**

"It's him!!" a voice escaped Sora's mouth suddenly, and it wasn't his own- flushing bright red, he slapped his hands over his mouth, staring up at Lae.

"Don't do that," he muttered against his hands, slowly pulling them away from hips lips. His heart was going crazy and Sora could feel the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. He never received a reply from Roxas, but instead had an overwhelming feeling of euphoria rushing through him.

_Ask him, ask him PLEASE, Sora--_

"...Axel?"

Lae grinned, and suddenly, he was elated** Let me take over. Please, PLEASE**. Axel's voice was filled with such need that Lae nodded, both to Sora and to Axel as he felt the younger presence fill him, taking over as his eyes filtered from blue to green and his stance changed to a more awkward, lanky one. Axel opened Lae's eyes, a bright smile lighting his face.

"Roxas."

Sora trembled and he felt his knees going weak- he lost control over himself and suddenly his legs buckled underneath him, and he clutched onto Lae's jacket, head bowed as he pressed his forehead against the man's leg, "Axel- Axel, it's you…" the voice was not Sora's- it was Roxas's. Glancing down, Lae found that the boy's hair color had significantly lightened to blonde.

Axel's heart clenched and he kneeled, prying Sora's (Roxas's?) hands from his jacket to hold tightly to them. "Yeah, it's me." He said softly, his voice changing pitch to sound less like Lae and more like Axel. The redhead smiled softly at the other male. "I found you."

Fingers curling around Axel's, Roxas felt tears stinging his eyes as he lifted his face- he couldn't quite meet Axel's gaze, not after what he had done.

"I'm... I'm so sorry... I shouldn't have left-" he was shaking gently, and he bit his lip, trying to stop it from trembling- he was here, he was really here... Axel had come for him. He couldn't believe it.

"Shh," Axel leaned forward, his forehead pressing gently against Roxas's. "It's alright. I found you, I always did. Every time. This time was no different. I'll never leave you. Not if I can help it." Roxas, it had been so long, over a year. Axel couldn't stop smiling, even if the blonde blamed himself, Axel never would, he was too busy being in love with Roxas to lay any kind of blame on the blonde boy. Axel held tightly to Roxas's hands, his thumb rubbing gently in a soothing caress. "I'm here."

"Thank you," Roxas squeezed the boy's hands gently, continuing softly, "For what you did for Sora... for looking for me."

Slowly be brought his gaze up, blue meeting green. Roxas's breath hitched in his throat and he thought that his heart just might have stopped right then.

"Axel, I-" his grip tightened on the boy's hands, and he stopped, unable to get the words out.

"I love you, Roxas." Axel blurted out, nearly interrupting the blonde. Roxas was flushed; his eyes wide and their bodies close together. He had to say it, because Axel knew that he didn't have a lot of time before Lae would demand control of his body once more. "I love you." He repeated, as if assuring himself and Roxas at the same time, his nose brushing against Roxas's smaller one, eyes sincere.

The younger boy could feel the tears finally spilling over and sliding down his cheeks, but a brilliant, shy smile was on his lips, and he was so happy that he thought he was about to burst.

"I love you too," his voice was soft, a mere whisper, and it felt so natural, so right to be sitting here in Axel's arms again. His eyes fluttered closed and he simply savored the moment, memorizing the feel of his love's hands on his, the warm forehead and nose pressed against his, their lips so close as their breath intermingled.

Shifting closer to the other, his lips brushed against Axel's as he spoke, "It's been so long."

"It has." Axel muttered back, moving his hands to slide them around Roxas's shorter frame, "Lets go to the next life together." He tilted his head forward, his mouth enclosing over Roxas's in a longing kiss, eyes fluttering shut as his heart soared.

**FINALLY. **Lae's exasperated voice roared, and the redhead couldn't help but grin just a little bit into the kiss.

Moving his arms up around Axel's neck, Roxas pulled himself even closer to the redhead, fingers running into his hair as he returned the kiss. The next life, huh? Axel had spoken to him about that before- the very last time he had seen him in person, before now.

Pulling away from the liplock fractionally, he didn't even have to think about his reply, "Yeah... I'd like that," he smiled warmly.

Axel grinned, leaning forward to peck the blonde on the lips, pulling Roxas to his feet and reaching down to hold his hand tightly. His eyes fluttered shut, signaling for Roxas to follow suit, which he did. The redhead felt an odd tugging sense at both his hand and his chest, a rush of air flowing through him before things faded out.

Lae opened his eyes, his hand releasing Sora's. "Is he gone?"

Slowly, Sora lifted his head from Lae's chest, and detangled his fingers from the boy's hand, looking up at him, confused. A part of him felt empty- Roxas was gone. His voice, his presense was gone...

"...Yeah," Sora looked down at his hands- this was surreal. But the weirdest thing was that the emptiness inside of him wasn't uncomfortable- more than anything, it was familiar. He almost felt... normal. Like how he had a few years ago, before he became aware of Roxas.

"I..." he looked back up at Lae, speechless.

"He's gone? Yes! No more being gay!" Lae shrieked, throwing his hands up into the air in elation before hopping around Sora's front porch in a small jig. There was a faint chuckle from above him and Lae looked up in mid-dance to find that it had started to snow. Sora gasped, poking his head out from his door.

"Thank you for watching over him, Sora," it was Axel's voice, "And Lae, thank you for helping me find him."

"Thanks, both of you," followed up Roxas's voice, and Sora grinned.

"Enjoy your next life, Roxas! And don't bother looking for me next time, silly," Sora smiled, and he could hear Roxas's agreement through his light laughter.

Lae let out a long breath, staring down from the sky and then smiling at Sora. "So... this is goodbye for me. I'm going back home. It was cool meeting you, kid." He gave the brunette a short wave, one that was returned exuberantly, and made his way down the sidewalk, brushing past Riku on his way.

"Goodbye!" Sora called, waving from his doorstep- seeing Riku heading up his path. The silver-haired boy gave Lae a glance, before pointing to the mistletoe above Sora's doorway, leaning in and sharing a small kiss with his boyfriend.

"Who was that?" he questioned, turning and glancing back out the door to the retreating redhead.

Sora smiled, before pushing the door closed, "A memory."

* * *

**7 Years Later**

_June_

Out on the docks of Destiny Islands sat a little boy no older than six or seven, band-aids slapped on both his knees as he crouched down to the ground, a magnifying glass clutched in one hand as he tried to set an ant on fire. A puft of fiery red hair shot out from his head as he smiled, his vivid jade eyes twinkling, watching the ant run away. A shadow fell over him and the boy scowled, turning his head up to look at a child, probably five or so, watching him with a melting ice-cream clutched in his right hand and his bright blonde hair tousled. The blonde boy stepped closer to the red headed one.

"Hi." He said, his ice cream dripping off of his hand and to the ground.

The red haired boy put his magnifying glass down when the popsicle was offered towards him and he took it, his hand covering the younger boy's. "Hi."

"I'm Roxas," said the blonde boy, allowing the older child to take a lick of his ice-cream before taking it back.

The redhead grinned. "I'm Axel."

* * *

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts, Sora, Roxas, Axel and Riku belong to Tetsuya Nomura and Squaresoft. Lae and his design was our own idea, but we don't mind if people adopt the name as the ever-popular "Ale" and "Lea" is degrading to our poor Axel. D: 


End file.
